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Book R WH ^ . 




ARTOTYPE, E . BIERSTADi, m 



0 FREM0RIAL 



OF 



HEODORE BAYAUP .ROMEYN, D, D„ 



LATE PASTOR 



OF THE 



First Reformed (Dutch) Church, 



HACK EN SACK, N. J. 



PUBLISHED BY THE CONSISTORY. 



1885. 



ff<* H 3 




\ 



ENiNIS BROTHERS. 

PRINTERS, 
26 YESEY ST., N. Y. 



5 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



Portions of the Biography of Rev. Theodore B. 
Romeyn, D. D., are given in the following addresses, 
but a statement somewhat more full may not be out 
of place, in concise form, as an introduction to this 
memorial. 

Theodore Bayard Romeyn, was born in Nassau, 
Rensselaer County, New York, October 22d, 1827. 
His parents were the Reverend James Romeyn and 
Joanna Bayard Rodgers, daughter of Dr. John Rich- 
ardson Bayard Rodgers, of New York City, who 
" was distinguished for his benevolence and high 
christian character, and who was for many years the 
leading physician in the city, and a professor in Col- 
umbia College." 

He attended schools at Hackensack, N. J., and 
Catskill, Galway, Amsterdam and Kinderhook, N. Y. 
In the autumn of 1843, ne (together with his only 
brother, James Rodgers Romeyn) entered the Soph- 
omore class in Rutgers College, and graduated in 
1846, with the distinction of the "Honorary Oration." 

During his Senior year he had made a public pro- 
fession of Christ, and united with his father's church, 



6 



at Bergen Point, N. J. His determination was im- 
mediately made to enter the ministry. 

In the autumn of 1846 he was received into the 
Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, where he 
pursued the regular course of study during three 
years. 

In all these preparatory years of study, he was 
distinguished by close application, quick perception, 
and broad comprehension. He was an earnest stu- 
dent, much esteemed by his professors. His moral 
and christian character always shone out clearly. His 
sense of honor was high. He was remarkably out- 
spoken, but always sincere and generous. He was a 
faithful friend, and therefore the friendships of his 
student days clung to him through all his life. 

During his seminary course he received the prize 
for an essay on missions. 

He was licensed by the Classis of Bergen in 1849, 
and soon after was ordained, and installed pastor of 
the Reformed Church of Blawenburg, X. J. Here 
he remained nearly sixteen years. The appreciation 
of his excellent service there is indicated by the drap- 
ed pulpit, and resolutions of affectionate memory 
adopted by the consistory when tidings of his death 
were received, although it was more than twenty 
years since he had left them. 

In the year 1865 he accepted a call to become 
pastor of the Reformed Church in Hackensack, N. J. 
It was an ancestral church. He had been preceded 
in that pastorate by three generations of his family. 
His father had been pastor from 1833 to 1836. His 
grandfather, Rev. James V. C. Romeyn, from 1799 



7 



to 1834; and the Rev. Dr. Theodoric Romeyn, bro- 
ther of his great-uncle Rev. Thomas Romeyn, Senior, 
had been pastor from 1775 to 1784. Thus, his own 
ministry of twenty years completed a total of almost 
seventy years of a family pastorate in that church 
within a period of little more than a century. It is 
also worth a passing notice to observe the large min- 
isterial circle of which he was a member by family 
ties. His maternal great-grandfather was Rev. Dr. 
John Rodgers, who was forty-four years pastor of the 
Wall street Presbyterian Church in New York city, 
and the Moderator of the first General Assembly in 
1789. His paternal grandmother was a sister of Rev. 
Nicholas Van Vranken. In these several branches 
of relationship, there are found nearly or quite forty 
names of those who have devoted themselves to the 
ministry of the Gospel ; and of this number three- 
quarters of all belong to the Romeyn family. 

Connected with such remarkable relationships in 
the service of God's house, and entering on a pastor- 
ate so tender in its personal history, he devoted him- 
self with all his powers of mind, and heart, and body 
to the work of his Lord. How well that work was 
performed is partially declared in the following ad- 
dresses, delivered at his funeral to a throng greater 
than the venerable church could contain, among 
whom were forty ministers of the Gospel. 

There is also precious testimony in the resolutions 
of his consistories, classis, Sabbath-school and other 
bodies, and in the voice of the public press, herewith 
presented to his friends. 

To all this may be added, that Dr. Romeyn was 



8 



exceedingly blessed in his domestic relations. He 
was married June n, 1850, to Amelia A., daughter 
of Johnson Letson, of New Brunswick, N. J. She 
survives him, with their only son, James A. Romeyn, 
who is engaged in the practice of law in Jersey City, 
New Jersey. 



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ADDRESS 



Rev. William Y. Y. Mabon, B.B 



IO 



ADDRESS 

OF 

REV. WM. V. V. MABON, D. D. 

In all ages the funeral rites have been the ex- 
pression of the faith, the affection, and the devotion of 
survivors. The mound and the tombstone are monu- 
ments erected by memory, to locate what is left to us 
of the loved and the lost ; while the gathering from 
near and far of their associates in blood and in the 
pursuits of life, denotes the extent of a common feel- 
ing of loss and grief. 

What was customary among the ancient peoples, 
whether Jew or pagan, is common also to Christians. 
Although not sorrowing "as those who are without 
hope ; but believing, that those also who sleep in 
Jesus, God will bring with him ; " nevertheless, we 
mourn for our believing associates, with signal ex- 
pressions of our hope of a reunion with them, accom- 
panied by submission to God ; by whom not only the 
days of our pilgrimage, "but the hairs of our head 
are numbered." Like Jesus, we weep at the graves 
of our friends ; and like Martha, we exclaim : we 
" know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at 
the last day." 



I I 

Whenever one falls by our side in the battle, the 
event is impressive. It comes so near ; it occurs so 
suddenly, it would seem to give to the Divine Provi- 
dence a meaning and an emphasis adequate to so 
decisive an event. It would seem that God in His 
commission to the angel Death had said : " Go, now, 
and strike ; so that men may feel. And speak, so that 
even the deaf may hear. Single out some shining 
mark upon whom the eyes of many, old and young, 
and middle-aged, and of every class, are fixed ; and 
choose some moment when every eye is looking 
out as for one who for a season had been away and 
was, with a sense of longing, expected back. Let him 
be in his prime — in the fulness of his relations ; of his 
usefulness, and of his accomplishments. Let him be 
a husband, a father, a brother ; a friend, a christian, 
a shepherd of the flock ; a counsellor to the people ; a 
helper to the poor, and a ruler in the house of God. 
In a moment, let his eloquent voice be stifled; his 
hand palsied ; his eyes set, and his account closed. 
Let those who are to see him, behold him prostrate 
in the coffin, in place of erect and instinct with the 
magnetism of the pulpit ; arrayed in the winding-sheet, 
instead of the prophet's mantle. And as one and an- 
other shall ask, 'Why is this?' Say. 'Be still, and 
know that I am God : I will be exalted in the earth. 
Be ye also ready ; for at such an hour as ye think not, 
the Son of Man cometh.' " 

After a well-tried service given to this church for 
twenty years — in joy and grief ; " in weariness and 
painfulness," as the Apostle says — the Consistory had 
voted him a special vacation of six weeks. On the 19th 



of July, he preached in the morning what proved to be 
his last sermon before this people ; a suggestive dis- 
course from 2d John, verse 8 : " Look to yourselves, 
that we lose not those things which we have wrought ; 
but that we receive a full reward." Was not that a 
well considered exhortation, after a twenty years ser- 
vice, on the eve of a separation, however briefly pur- 
posed, yet liable to be perpetual ! See the shepherd's 
care of the flock ; and the sense of responsibility abid- 
ing after the work was done ! 

We are glad to have heard that he fully enjoyed 
every day of his vacation, beside the solemn sea, and 
afterward upon the mountains. There he met many 
friends — the friends of a lifetime ; of his childhood, 
and of his parents. His family were at his side 
How happy his relations! Twenty years of a success- 
ful ministry accomplished : his family circle com- 
pleted by the acquisition of a daughter, in the person 
of the valued wife of his only son : his companion-in- 
life, now for sometime restored to health, to associ- 
ated labor in the congregation, and to a share in the 
restful influence of a change among familiar faces, and 
scenes, which had often been visited in earlier and 
happy days ; for so it is, that, under the magic spell 
of memory, we forget the clouds, and rain, and hard- 
ship of past travel, and re-produce almost solely for 
ourselves the sunshine, and the smiles, and the rest 
of our old-time sojourn from place to place. Even 
the Lord said to His disciples, ''Come, and let us go 
into a desert place and rest awhile." And now, to us 
it is a comfort that this hard-worked servant of God 
had more than a few "drops of reviving in the bond- 



'3 



age" of his appointed service ; and that he had known 
nothing- but pleasure in his brief six weeks absence, 
broken but once by a recall to a burial and marriage 
service in the parish. 

Among the mountains, he was, like Moses, look- 
ing beyond to the Promised Land ; for he said, " I 
have gotten the materials of four sermons ; " and after- 
wards, in his message to the church, on the morning 
of the 29th of August, he said, " I have come down 
from the mountains, and now I go up into the mount 
of God." 

His friends know that, during many years of an 
active and faithful ministry he was encompassed with 
much physical weakness, such as is often wont to be 
discredited when associated with the mental vigor 
which sustains and subjects the suffering body. But 
when the taking off occurred, it was no surprise to 
him. We all were startled by the invitation to this 
reception for the dead. We knew not what to think, 
when only just yesterday we had seen him back again, 
moving with renewed vigor among us. We were 
literally electrified by the announcement of his de- 
cease within fifteen hours of his return ; but, the 
event was no surprise, no grief to him — no grief, be- 
cause he was assured of the "gains of death," and 
exempted both from the lingering pains of a tardy 
decline and from the shadow of another and an uncer- 
tain visitation; and no surprise, because, "the Lord 
God will do nothing but He revealeth to His ser- 
vants, the prophets." And when, at six o'clock, a. m., 
his son responded to his father's cry, the father said : 
"It has come," that had come which was expected. 



14 

He knew the token, with unerring certainty, for not 
many minutes passed before the hand was limp, the 
speech thick, and the eyes in succession set. 

He died in the harness. His vacation was in the 
interests of his church. The interests of the church 
and of the minister are identical. What was for his 
o-ood was for their Q-ood — and in a sweater measure. 
Therefore, for them he £Ot those mountain views of 
truth ; and on his study table lies the unfinished Sun- 
day sermon from Isaiah, 53d chapter and 5th verse — 
" The chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and 
with His stripes we are healed." Here is substitu- 
tion — here is sacrifice. Although no man's sacrifice 
for another can be compared to the sacrifice of Christ 
for us, yet all of us undergo for one another a rela- 
tive sacrifice, and a relative substitution. In dvino- 

* o 

in the harness, he was happy. Now, all is secure ; 
no fall possible — clean escaped from the perils of age, 
and from the difficulties of a descent from the hisrh 
points of action, and service, and liberty. And now, 
when you look at that coffin, you see a man who died 
at his post, after having lived on a very high plane : 
faithful in his study, faithful as a pastor, faithful to 
the cono-reQ-ation, faithful to individuals, with no one 
to report to but his classis, his conscience, and his 
God ; through storm and sunshine, domestic sickness 
and personal suffering ; never taking a full vacation, 
nor seeking worldly pleasure or ecclesiastical advance- 
ment, but persisting for thirty-six years in the service 
of that invisible taskmaster, who is cognizant alone 
of that fidelity which men can never exact, secure or 
reward ; and says, " I know thy work, and thy labor, 



15 



and thy patience ; and how thou canst not bear them 
which are evil, and hast borne, and hast patience, and 
for my name's sake hast not fainted." 

Why did he thus stoutly hold the fort ? Why so 
patiently carry this people to the last upon his heart ? 
The answer is, that, the message of the Gospel may 
neither remain unspoken, nor be unheeded with 
impunity by those to whom it is sent. " No man 
taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of 
God, as was Aaron." " Necessity was laid " on him : 
a necessity which was not a physical compulsion, but 
a voluntary service, resulting from the continual re- 
cognition of his ordination vows. 

It is known to many of you that his father, Rev. 
James Romeyn, was the pastor of this church 
for three years, from 1833 to 1836, and his father's 
father, Rev. James V. C. Romeyn, pastor of the 
same church, from 1799 to 1833. His great-grand- 
father, Rev. Thomas Romeyn, was the minister 
of several churches in the Delaware and Mohawk 
valleys. His great-grandmother, grandfather, grand- 
mother, father, and mother, are buried in this church- 
yard. On his mother s side he was the great-grand- 
son of Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, one of the early 
Presbyterian ministers in America, and pastor of the 
1 st Presbyterian Church on Wall street, New York. 
The building was taken down and re-erected in Jersey 
City, where it now stands. 

But, as this is not a historical discourse, I may 
briefly say, his was a double inheritance on both 
sides— the intellectual and spiritual inheritance of a 
vigorous christian character. 



i6 



He was born at Nassau, Rensselaer County, New 
York, October 22a!, 1827; graduated at Rutgers Col- 
lege, 1846 ; studied theology in the New Brunswick 
Seminary, and was licensed by the Classis of Bergen 
1849 5 tne same year was called to the Reformed 
Church in Blawenburg, N. J., from whence he was 
called to this church in 1865. Here, as a living epis- 
tle of Jesus Christ, he has been "known and read of 
all men." 

So great are the changes wrought by a few years, 
that it seems proper, now and here, to say, that in 
coming among this people he displayed many wise 
and careful qualities, especially in view of the dis- 
turbed condition of the church at the end of the war, 
which has just been brought to a close. At that 
time, and ever since, his ministry has been pre-emi- 
nently marked by a happy and persistent faculty of 
throwing oil upon the waters. The congregation 
was united, and its spiritual life was greatly revived. 
Where the spiritual talent of the members for mutual 
edification had been very difficult to be awakened, 
the consistorial weekly prayer meeting, held from 
house to house, was soon followed by a general 
prayer meeting, held from house to house, which be- 
came a lively and effectual means of grace. The 
church building which had been enlarged under his 
predecessor, the laborious and" very consistent, Rev. 
Alexander H. Warner, deceased, was again greatly 
enlarged and beautified at the expense of the late 
George Fair, Esq. Accommodation for the Sabbath 
instruction of the young, and for lectures, followed 
in the erection of a valuable chapel, and every year 



i7 



since has been marked by the evidence of a laborious 
ministry, fully alive to the wants of the times and 
greatly successful in ingathering of souls. 

Why should I here speak of the various series 
of sermons and lectures delivered by him, from 
year to year, for the edification of the church and 
the instruction of the community — of his interest 
in the public welfare — of his labors among the 
young, in the special administration of the Sabbath 
school ; or of his attitude toward fellow christians of 
other names in the direction of christian union. 
These matters are not to occupy our time, because 
you know them better than I. But, I will rather 
refer to what may fitly be spoken of as personal 
qualities, which lay at the basis of the external 
superstructure. 

And first, he was spiritually minded. That means 
a great deal. It means that he was moved by the 
."power of the world to come;" that he walked by 
faith. He "watched for souls as one that must give 
account" — he looked for his reward bye and bye — 
and, though I may say no more, how appropriate to 
such a life is the ending ! We think of Enoch, walk- 
ing with God; who "was not, for God took him." 
And we cannot help thinking of Elijah, when we 
remember the prophet's courage and translation ; 
for, of such men now, as then, we cry, "My father, 
my father ; the chariots of Israel and the horsemen 
thereof ! " 

This firmness and inflexible decision of character 
is the second trait. I will not enlarge upon it, but 
every one knows that, peacemaker as he was, it was 



i8 



useless to argue against his moral convictions and 

o o 

deliberate purpose. 

A third quality of Dr. Romeyn has been indicat- 
ed already. It is his faithfulness. His faithfulness 
may be illustrated by his study. Everything he did 
was well thought out, carefully prepared, and deliv- 
ered with the greatest earnestness and sincerity. It 
is a mark of a well constructed character to do the 
best, wherever you put him. Dr. Romeyn was always 
doing his best ; and this explains two things : his 
shrinking from publicity, because he had a very high 
ideal of perfection. The man who has an idea of the 
perfect is always sensible of the imperfect, and this 
made him shrink from the criticism of the public ; and 
the other trait, explained by his endeavor to do his 
best, was his desire of suitable recognition. If he had 
it, so had St. Paul, and the apostle was not ashamed 
of it. 

But, not the study only discloses his fidelity ; its 
proof is to be found in pastoral labors. He might 
have neglected his evening meetings, his week-day 
labors outside the village, and his pastoral calls ; but, 
"his witness is in heaven," and " his record is on high," 
and these also are in your consciences. 

The only other trait I will mention is, his gener- 
osity. Bye and bye it will be said to him, "I was 
sick, and ye visited me ; naked, and ye clothed me ; 
I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat." He was 
no lover of money, but ever ready to distribute of his 
substance ; yet, always so that the left hand was not 
suffered to know what the right hand did. 

To his people, gathered here with throbbing hearts, 



19 



it will be well to say, you have had the best years of 
his life ; not the inexperience and crudeness of youth, 
nor manhood's remnants of declining life ; but his 
prime, and strength of body, brain, and heart. If 
any of you have been liberal in Christ's service, it is 
well ; but he gave himself to you, and that too dur- 
ing the best twenty years of his manhood. He has 
contributed accommodation to your worship ; instruct- 
ion to your children ; wisdom to the administration 
of your church life — tears for your sorrows ; joys to 
your families, and salvation through grace to your 
souls. All this you know, and it will awaken the 
deepest springs of your hearts, as passing around the 
coffin, you behold the marble lips which so often 
aroused, instructed, and comforted you ; and you look 
at those cunning fingers, which shall pen no more 
messages of life ; and you survey the palsied hand, 
which can no longer open to your help. 

All these things will hereafter be missed. No 
doubt God will, in due season, send you another min- 
ister, but the individuality of this man will not be re- 
placed. There are points which were his own, and that 
too, at their best, which have been devoted to the 
Master through you, and which will be greatly missed. 
He will be missed by his warm personal friends. 
Theodore was like his father, James, in the tenacity 
of his friendships. Large as is this gathering, there 
are many away who have gone to the other territory. 
In addition to many from this congregation, there are 
Ludlow, and Van Vranken, and Gardner, and Stitt, 
who will not miss him but meet him. But, there are 
those who will miss the Thanksgiving dinner, sent 



20 



quietly to cheer the humble, and to dispel, if only for 
a day, the shadow of poverty. They will miss the 
as quietly deposited bank-note, so eloquent of sym- 
pathetic and tender affection. The sick chamber will 
miss him ; and the Boards of the Church, and the 
Sessions of Classis, and the Bible and Missionary 
treasuries, sustained not only by his individually pro- 
portioned gifts, but by his efforts to organize the 
contributions of the people at large. He will be 
missed notably at funeral ministrations, where he 
never failed to speak with tender sympathy. Only 
on two such occasions have I heard him, but the ser- 
vice was so refreshing, one could not fail to recognize 
how well spoken was the word to those who mourned. 

What shall I say of her, who, from this day, begins 
to take her solitary journey toward the goal which 
he has reached before her ! I may only say she had 
already become a proficient in the school of bereave- 
ment and personal suffering. She knows where com- 
fort has been obtained in the past, and is to be had in 
every stormy and cloudy day. By experience, she 
knows ''in whom she has believed;" and while her 
Saviour has promised always to be near her, her hus- 
band will never be considered as far away. Now, for 
the first, his children will fully know his value ; his 
affection for them ; the worth of his services ; the 
strength of his character, and the meaning of his 
example. 

Those who in all these wide relations are thus to 
miss him, will, of necessity, remember him. But they 
will remember him as they will wish to remember 
him. God has ordered it so, that you are not to 



2 I 

think of him in the weakness and decline of years, 
but in the activities and energy of christian man- 
hood — a manhood marked by the noblest exercise of 
self-government, by the subjection of his passions, and 
by the successful resistance of principle to the dis- 
order of a delicately organized temperament. He 
has come to the end, with the shadow of an expected 
paralysis forever dispelled, and has returned to his 
dwelling place, not to linger sadly upon these shores 
amid the wreck of departed friends and faculties ; but, 
like an eagle on some high mountain crag which has 
been bathing his vision in the glory of the sun, and 
pluming his strengthened wing, he has taken his flight 
and sailed away beyond our vision, to nestle in the 
bosom of God. Let us follow him. To his people 
the word of direction is, " Remember them who have 
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word 
of God ; whose faith follow, considering the end of 
their conversation. Jesus Christ, is the same yester- 
day, and to-day, and forever." 



ADDRESS 



Rev. j. ReMEYN Berry, 8.8, 



2 4 



ADDRESS 

OF 

REV. J. ROMEYN BERRY, D. D. 



Those lips, now so cold and still, have proposed 
beside many a coffin, the inspired question : "What 
is your life?" But, never did they propound that 
question with such solemn eloquence as they do 
to-day, from the depths of that sudden stillness which 
has just fallen upon them. Never does life seem so 
mysterious as in the presence of that other mystery 
of death. 

What is your life? What answer shall we get? 
Of whom shall we ask it ? 

Shall we ask it of those who study the laws and 
phenomena of life ? They could tell us many won- 
derful things. But concerning the origin and essen- 
tial principle of life, the physiologist and anatomist 
are silent except as they pronounce the name of God. 

Shall we ask the busy crowd of worldlings, what 
is your life ? They could tell us much about the life 
of care, toil, ambition, gain or loss ; the everlasting 
fret and fever of an unsatisfying struggle for perish- 
able good. 



2 5 



Shall we ask the disappointed, the sick, the be- 
reaved, what is your life ? They could tell us many 
a touching story of the weakness, the frailty, the 
vanity of man at even his best estate. They could 
point to an occasion like the present and tell of 
the sun gone down at noon, of the vacant place in 
the home, and the vacant pastorate in this church ; 
of the almost finished sermon, never to be complet- 
ed, of those sanctuary doors closed and the services 
omitted last. Sabbath because of these services here 
to-day ; and they might say, look at all these tokens 
of frailty and sorrow and get the answer for your- 
selves as to what is human life. 

Yes, we do look at all this and we feel it all ; but, 
we are not satisfied. We crave a higher and a better 
answer to our question, and we have it here to-day. 
We have it from God's Word. W e have it from the 
experience of a great apostle. We have it from the 
life and character of our departed brother — from the 
twenty years of his pastorate here and the other 
years which preceded it, and this is the answer : " For 
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." 

That language expresses life in the very highest 
phase of human experience. It does not define its 
mysteries, but it describes its glory. It is the noblest 
practical conception of it which experience ever at- 
tained, or imagination depicted. Yet, it is no imagi- 
nation, no dreamy delusion. It is life in its most real, 
most earnest, most glorious form ; the actual photo- 
graph of him who first wrote those words ; the de- 
scription of every true christian according to the 
proportion of grace ; the veritable delineation of the 



26 



dear brother, pastor and friend of whom we speak 
to-day. 

How comprehensive that concise phrase, " To live 
is Christ !" All concentrated, all intensified, all glori- 
fied in that one word, Christ ! For all that life is from 
Him and in Him. It is born, not of human flesh or 
blood, or will, but of God. It is essentially connected 
with Christ, as the branch with the vine, and the 
members with the head. It is "hid with Christ in 
God," beyond the reach of a created arm, or the ken 
of a created eye. 

But, inscrutable and heavenly as that life is, it 
works mightily in the visible and earthly living of 
every faithful disciple of Christ. It reproduces His 
spirit and example. It illumines the understanding, 
instructs the conscience, commands the faith, affec- 
tions and will, inspires motives, presents aims, fires 
the heart, kindles the eye, girds the loins, opens the 
lips, and consecrates every power and passion to the 
service and glory of Christ alone. 

Such was the inward and outward life of this 
departed servant of our Lord. In that one "Name 
above every name " he saw his own hope of salvation. 
In it he saw the concentration of all God's revealed 
truth. In that name he saw the call and theme of 
his ministry, and the only hope of a fallen world. 
You, who enjoyed his ministry, know that Christ was 
always supreme in the messages which he brought 
you. That sermon which he had partially written, 
and from whose pages he laid aside his pen only to 
lay himself down to die, was upon Christ, as described 
in the words, " The chastisement of our peace was 



27 



upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed." 
That chastisement brought the only peace, and those 
stripes the only healing which he knew for a ruined 
race. 

He was a sincere man, an earnest man, a fearless 
man ; but, all was intensified by his fidelity to Christ. 
This made him bold to warn and rebuke. He hated 
sin, and selfishness, and meanness, because he loved 
the holiness, charity, and magnaminity of Christ. 
For the sorrowful he had a sympathy as tender as a 
mother's heart ; for the penitent, a forgiveness as 
warm and free as the sunlight ; for the needy, the heart 
and hand of a good Samaritan ; but, all this was not 
the philanthropy of a mere moralist ; everything was 
vitalized and permeated by the love of Christ. 

In his ministry he sought, above all things, the 
prosperity of his Lord's work. His texts were chosen 
for this end, his correspondence was full of it, If 
spirituality lanquished in the church, if conversions 
were few, his heart was bowed to the dust. But, if 
the power of the Holy Spirit was manifest, and 
Christ was glorified, then the joy of the Lord was his 
strength. Never did I know one more intensely 
devoted. Compassed with many physical infirmities, 
a victim of pain, and weakness, and shattered nerves, 
he pressed on where most men would have lain down. 
His last letter to me told, as many others had done, 
how tired, weak and worn out he felt. Yet, he abated 
no effort, and counted not his life dear unto himself, 
that he might finish his course with joy and the 
ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to 
testify the gospel of the grace of God. 



28 



Such is a hurried sketch of the life and character 
of our departed brother, as an illustration of the 
words, "For to me, to live is Christ." 

What did it all avail? Is it all over? Has death 
ended all? or, is there a further destiny and reward? 
The response is, "To die is gain !" But, what gain? 
Surely not the gain of mere dying, nor of death, nor 
of the cold clay, nor of the dark grave. No ! none 
of these, but of that which is above and beyond all 
this : the gain of that life into which death ushers 
the believer. The great truth which rises before us 
to-day is that which is described in another passage 
as "the power of an endless life," — literally, of an 
indissoluble life. 

That language was originally used to describe the 
life of our risen and glorified High Priest and Sav- 
iour. But His life is in all his saints, who are to be 
with Him and like Him forever. Because He lives, 
we shall live also. 

Here then, in this very presence of death, over 
this unconscious form, is the very place for our faith 
to triumph in the power of an endless life. Let us 
not leave this place, dear friends, without catching 
some glimpses of the splendor of this thought as it 
shines upon this casket of a servant of God. 

"The power of an endless life!" Think of it, as 
a power to be forever ; existence assured beyond a 
peradventure or a fear. The present life is composed 
of manifold incessant efforts to live. What a struggle 
against weakness and pain was that of our departed 
brother ! So, more or less, it is with all. The feeble- 
ness of infancy demands the most tender care on the 



2 9 



part of others, and riper years no less care of our 
own. We need daily food to replenish the vital 
forces. We build houses, wrap ourselvs in clothing, 
and kindle fires, to protect us from the cold. We 
fly to the shade to defend us from the heat. We 
watch our pathway and step aside from approaching 
dangers. We spend one-third of our time in slumber. 
We have physicians and medicines in sickness. And 
all this, simply to live ; to protect and preserve this 
present frail existence. At best we succeed only a 
few years. We fail at last. In some way or other 
the destroyer conquers all. The battle ends in the 
grave-yard, and death is the victor. 

That is the story of the present, the earthly, the 
mortal life. 

From this, look off at the view which rises before 
us in the upper world. No effort to live — no care, 
no toil, no danger, no slumber, no hunger nor thirst, 
no scorching heat nor shivering cold, no sickness, no 
decay, no old age, no death, no end ! Vigor ever 
fresh, strength unwearied, the eye never dim, the ear 
never dull ; no anxiety about the morrow, or coming 
years. A thousand years pass along, a million, a thou- 
sand millions, still it is endless life, as fresh and buoy- 
ant as at the beginning. So on and on as far as thought 
can reach, and at the farthest point it is always life 
just begun, with boundless duration beyond — the 
power, the indissoluble power of an endless life. 

How overwhelming to us poor children of the 
dust is the very thought of such an immortality ! No 
language can describe it, no conception reach it. As 
one has said, 

"It thunders to the thought!" 



30 

Think of this endless life also as a power to achieve. 

In yonder study lies that unfinished sermon — the 
last effort of a ministry so suddenly cut off. So is 
it ever in this life of ours. Something always unfin- 
ished. So the pen drops from many an author's 
hand. So, on every side, plans are frustrated, and life, 
with all its ministries and relations, is cut off when it 
seems only just begun. The most we accomplish in 
this world is an attempt and a beginning. Every- 
thing is fragmentary and preparative. There is no 
time to learn much more than the rudiments, or lay 
more than the foundations. 

But, let life become triumphant over all such 
limitations. Let us have not only time to begin, but 
unbounded time to carry out the noblest plans and 
efforts, what may we not then accomplish? What 
may we not learn when we are learning forever ? Who 
can estimate the growth, progress and achievements 
of a glorified saint through eternal years ? And this 
ministry so suddenly cut off, who can guess to what 
higher ministry it has already given place where un- 
wearied energies shall exult in the power of an endless 
life. 

Think, once more, of the power of enjoyment 
which abides in that life. 

It were vain to denv that there is much brightness 
and joy in the present life. There is always the 
buoyancy of childhood, leaping and shouting in the 
exuberance of health and freedom from care ; always 
the joy of love, of happy homes and prosperous lives. 



3i 



But, all this is joy in the progress of a transition 
or revolution. That childhood glides swiftly away 
into the toils of manhood and womanhood, and then 
into the infirmities of old age. Love soon weeps 
over the death-bed of dear ones. The happy homes 
soon have funeral services. So, there is always sor- 
row, as well as always joy ; always the decreptitude 
of age, as well as always the glow of youth. As the 
earth in its revolution always has somewhere the glow 
of the morning, and always somewhere the brightness 
of the noon, so has it also always somewhere the shad- 
ows of the evening and the darkness of the midnight. 
As there is always summer somewhere, so also is there 
always winter somewhere. These are but symbols 
of our own existence. Perpetual change and perpetual 
contrast constitute the pageant of human life. 

The highest enjoyment in this world is the joy of 
a believer in his Lord. But, even this is continually 
impaired by the conflicting surroundings of frailty 
and sin. 

" E'en the rapture of pardon is mingled with fears, 
And the cup of thanksgiving with penitent tears." 

How much of this mingled and contrasted experi- 
ence fell to the lot of our brother who has just left 
us ! With many blessings and a keen' and thankful 
enjoyment of them, he had also many conflicts and 
sorrows. What he often endured of physical pain 
and distress very few ever knew. On the last night 
of his life, before the attack of paralysis came on, he 
was in intense agony for several hours. In the midst 
of it he said to her who was dearest to him, "How 



32 

much you and I have suffered ! " But, besides such 
physical sufferings, there were other sorrows and 
many that he bore ; there were conflicts with himself, 
with his own imperfections, with the infirmities of an 
inherited nature, all these things orave to him a laro-e 
share of the contrasted sorrows and joys, smiles and 
tears of this present frail estate. 

But, all these things only set off in sharper con- 
trast the power of an endless life to confer happiness 
upon the soul. Perfect joy comes not, until we reach 
the realm where pain pierces not, and sin defiles not, 
and the curse smites not, and death separates not, 
when happiness shall be. 

"Not the light that leaves us darker, 

Nor the gleams that come and go; 
Not the mirth whose end is madness, 

Not the joy whose fruit is woe ; 
Not the notes that die at sunset, 

Not the fashion of a day; 
But the everlasting beauty, 

And the endless melody." 

These are a few hints of the power to be, to 
achieve and to enjoy, which abides in an endless life. 
And we rejoice to-day, that, amid these emblems of 
mortality and woe, we have "good hope through 
grace," that this beloved minister of Christ has already 
entered on the blessedness of the power of that in- 
dissoluble life. 

During the few moments — scarcely more than a 
few seconds — which intervened between the first inti- 
mation of the attack and the unconsciousness which 
ensued, he seized his last opportunity to send a per- 



33 



sonal message to you, the beloved people of his 
charge. " Tell my beloved people," said he, " that I 
had intended to preach to them to-morrow from the 
text, 'The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, 
and with His stripes we are healed ; ' but that cannot 
be. Tell them to remember the last text from which 
I preached to them. Tell them that I have come 
down from the mountains and now I go up into the 
mount of God." That message I bring to you from 
his dying lips. It is the last utterance you shall re- 
ceive from him until you meet him face to face in the 
Church above. You know not, dear friends, how 
sincerely he loved you, and how deep an interest he 
felt in your spiritual welfare. You have heard his 
sincere an faithful appeals, let them be neither for- 
gotten nor disregarded. You have known the tender 
sympathy of his soul in your sorrows, and the kind 
words of comfort and hope with which he soothed 
and sustained your wounded hearts. How sacred the 
privilege you have of repaying his sympathy and 
comfort by your kindnesses in that home which is 
now in such deep affliction because he has been taken 
from it. He has gone to meet many a former parish- 
ioner in the heavenly rest. Many of you will follow 
on. Oh, let it be so that every one of you shall be 
his joy and crown of rejoicing in the presence of our 
Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. 

Dear members of the Sabbath-school : You never 
had, and you never will have on earth, a truer friend 
than the pastor who has now gone to be with Jesus. 
At the recent twentieth anniversary of his ministry 
you kindly and considerately gave special expression 



34 



of your love and gratitude to him. Perhaps you little 
knew how much happiness that evening gave him. 
He wrote to me about it, and sent me a copy of the 
published account of the proceedings. You then 
adorned this church with symbols of joy : Little did 
you expect that so soon it would be draped in these 
symbols of woe. Your floral symbol then was a 
crown to be worn by the faithful unto death : Little 
did you suppose that so soon the real crown would 
rest upon his brow, and that your floral crown to-day 
would indicate a crown already won. How delight- 
ful if that crown at last shall be full of the jewels 
of your souls saved through his faithful labors and 
prayers ! 

The interest which he felt in you was a deep 
and constant interest, not only when present with 
you but also when absent. You remember that dur- 
ing his recent vacation he sent a message of his love 
to you by a minister who was to preach in this place. 
Oh, let not his many messages of faithful love fail 
of doing lasting good to every one of vou. 

Last evening one of your number (not present to- 
day) asked to look upon his face once more, and as 
she looked she wept, and said, "Oh, if I had only 
heeded what he said when he so often asked me to 
give my heart to Christ ; but now, it is too late ! " 
Yes, too late to receive his help and kindness any 
more ; but not too late for Christ, who ever lives to 
save all who come to Him ; not too late to prepare 
to meet your pastor with joy in the presence of Jesus. 

There is a large circle of relatives sorely stricken 

O J 

and bereft in this affliction. Alas ! how often stricken, 



35 



and especially in recent times ! Only forty days ago, 
the last member of the former eeneration, the uncle 
whose name this departed nephew bore, and whose 
birth and early life had been in this town and in its 
former parsonage, was carried to the grave. And 
how often the stroke has recently fallen upon her who 
to-day is the most sorely stricken of all, you well 
know. But, dear kindred and friends, in all these 
things we are still more than conquerors, through Him 
that loved us. We have a large and precious repre- 
sentation — a very host among the glorified. Let this 
thought animate and cheer us as we press on to join 
them in 

"Those halls of Zion 
Conjubilant with song, 

And bright with many an angel, 
And all the martyr throng." 

Our dear kinsman and friend here has anticipated 
us in that joy. Let us congratulate him on the grace 
that has been bestowed on him. He desired to die 
in the harness. His desire was gratified. He especi- 
ally dreaded to linger out a wrecked and feeble ex- 
istence. In the midst of his work, he lay down and 
fell asleep as quickly and sweetly as a weary child. 
He was faithful unto death — he has won the Crown 
of Life! 



36 



"Servant of God, well done ! 

Rest from thy loved employ: 
The battle fought, the victory won, 

Enter thy Master's joy ! " 

The voice at midnight came ; 

He started up to hear ; 
A mortal arrow pierced his frame ; 

He fell, but felt no fear. 

Tranquil amidst alarms, 

,It found him on the field; 

A veteran, slumbering on his arms, 
Beneath his red-cross shield. 

His sword was in his hand, 

Still warm with recent fight ; 

Readv that moment at command, 

Through rock and steel to smite. 

It was a two-edged blade 

Of heavenly temper keen, 

And double were the wounds it made, 
Where'er it glanced between. 

'Twas death to sin, 'twas life 

To all who mourned their sin; 

It kindled and it silenced strife, 
Made war and peace within. 

Bent on such glorious toils, 

The world to him was loss; 

Yet, all his trophies — all his spoils 
He hung upon the Cross. 



37 



At midnight came the cry : 

"To meet thy God prepare!" 

He woke, he caught his Captain's eye, 
Then, strong in faith and prayer, — 

His spirit, with a bound, 

Left its encumbering clay ; 
His tent, at sunrise, on the ground, 

A darkened ruin lay. 

The pains of death are past, 

Labor and sorrow cease ; 
And, life's long warfare closed at last, 

His soul is found in peace. 

"Soldier of Christ, well done! 

Praise be thv new employ; 
And, while eternal ages run, 

Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 



gritattas vf .time Uttm 

and 



4Q 



Thursday, September 3, 1885. 



DEATH OF DR. ROMEYW. 



Dying suddenly at home, a few hours after his return. 



This community was shocked on Saturday morning by the announce- 
ment that Rev. Dr. Romeyn, so long pastor of the First Reformed church, 
had been stricken with paralysis during the night and was in a critical 
condition. While everybody was deploring the occurrence and specu- 
lating upon the probable result, the sufferer was slowly passing away, 
and before ten o'clock it was generally known in the southern part of 
the town that Dr. Romeyn was dead. 

It is a long time since any event has so profoundly stirred our town 
as this sudden removal of a well-known citizen. Dr. Romeyn had just 
ended his summer vacation, having returned from the Catskills on Friday 
afternoon, and was announced in these columns to preach to his people 
last Sunday. In the early evening of Friday, while passing along Main 
street he exchanged greetings with many friends, expressing pleasure at 
his return home. 

Dr. Romeyn retired as usual that evening, but about midnight 
complained of great pain, which he then attributed to his kidneys. He 
grew worse, and finally became fully impressed with the gravity of his 
condition — he felt that the malady which had stricken so many of his 
family, and which he often expected, had laid its hand upon him. At 
an early hour Dr. St. John, the family physician, was summoned. The 



4i 



patient was then rapidly losing consciousness, which soon overcame him, 
and he did not speak again. His last words were these, a message to 
his church : 

"Tell my beloved people that I intended to preach to them to- 
morrow from the text, ' The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, 
and with His stripes we are healed ; ' but that will not be. Tell them to 
remember the last text from which I preached to them. Tell them that 
I have come down from the mountains, to go up to the mount of 
God." 

At this point his voice failed, and he spoke no more. 

On account of his representative position as pastor of the largest 
church in town, his wide circle of acquaintances and friends, and the 
warm regard in which he was held, not only by the members of his 
own congregation, but by the citizens at large, Dr. Romeyn's death was 
felt as a personal bereavement, as a great loss to the community and to 
the Church of which he was so conspicuous a member. It was such 
a shock as must always follow the sudden passing away of a scholarly, 
earnest, active, industrious, conscientious, faithful minister who for thirty- 
six years has made the gospel of "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," in 
all its purity, the subject of his preaching. If he condemned sin and 
error with all his vigor, the healing balm of God's undying love and 
saving power was the antidote he loved to offer. Dr. Romeyn was an 
earnest preacher, and his sermons were so marked by a scholarly finish, 
a clear and fearless exposition of the Word — often by tender pathos — 
by ringing denunciation of evils that threatened the Church, the gov- 
ernment, or society — that he rarely failed to hold his hearers in close 
attention. 

Theodore B. Romeyn belonged to a family of ministers. He was 
reared in the Dutch Reformed Church, and was connected by blood 
and marriage with many who were conspicuous in the ministry of that 
denomination. He was fourth of the name of Romeyn who have filled 
the pulpit of the Old Church on the Green. He was born in Rensse- 
laer County, New York, October 2zd, 1827, and was in his fifty-eighth 
year when he died. He was the second son of Rev. James Romeyn, D.D. 
He graduated at Rutgers College in the class of 1846, and pursued his 
theological studies at the Seminary at New Brunswick, where he gradua- 
ted in 1849. He was immediately called to the church at Blawenburg, 
Somerset County, N. J., and remained there till 1865, a period of nearly 



4 2 



sixteen years, when he received a call to the First Reformed Church at 
Hackensack, where he has remained till this time. So that his ministry 
of thirty-six years has been spent in only two places. His wife survives 
him, and an only son James A. Romeyn, a lawyer practicing at Jersey 
City. 

The Romeyn family have long been conspicuous in the Reformed 
Church. Dr. Theodoric Romeyn, a man of great force of character 
and an ardent patriot during the Revolutionary war, was pastor of this 
church for ten years from 1775 to 1784. His nephew, Rev. James V. C. 
Romeyn, (grandfather of the late Dr. Romeyn,) served a long ministry 
in this church, commencing in 1799 and terminating in 1834. He died 
in 1840, aged 75 years, and is buried in the old graveyard around the 
the church. His ministry extended over a stormy and troublesome time 
in the history of the denomination, connected with the memorable secess- 
ion of a portion of its ministry, but he met the trials and difficulties of 
his position with great firmness and success. He was a notable man in 
his day. 

His son, Rev. James Romeyn, succeeded him in 1833, but remained 
in the pastorate of the church only about four years. He was a man of 
great literary attainments and a most eloquent and fervid speaker. He 
also is buried in the old graveyard. 

Since the accession of Theodore B. Romeyn to the pastorate of the 
church, in 1865, there has been great progress in temporal and spiritual 
matters. The church edifice has been enlarged and improved, and a 
vast amount of pastoral work has been carried on with great success. 
In June last the congregation celebrated the twentieth anniversary of 
his pastorate, on which occasion we said editorially : 

" We join in extending congratulations to Rev. Dr. Theodore B. 
Romeyn, upon the completion of twenty years of service as pastor of 
' the Old Church on the Green ' (First Reformed) at Hackensack. In 
these changeful times, when so many elements of discord disturb church 
councils and tend to shorten the pastorate of faithful servants, it is 
certainly gratifying that our own community presents more than one 
example of congregational unity. As pastor, neighbor, and citizen, 
Dr. Romeyn's record will stand the broad test of honest criticism. His 
services to the Church have not been attended with sensational workings 
or results, but the fruit of his labor has been as gratifying as its effect 
upon the community will be enduring for good. A gentleman of culture 



43 



and fine scholarly attainments, his aim, to our view, has been always to 
carry the standard of his calling above the atmosphere of modern- doubt 
and cant into the bright sunlight of truth and sincerity of his Master. 
Such a character is a safe guide, and in marking their appreciation of the 
man and his work, his people have given emphatic proof of devotion to 
faithfulness and a pure gospel." 

Although Dr. Romeyn was punctual in the discharge of his onerous 
duties of his large field of labor, he found time for occasional literary 
work outside. The initials " T. B. R." were frequently seen in the 
columns of the Christian Intelligencer. He compiled the well-known 
history of the First Church, a most thorough and correct work. Dr. 
Romeyn was selected to preach one of a series of centennial sermons in 
1876, afterward published by the Reformed Church. He was also 
prominent in the management of Rutgers College. 

Rev. Dr. Romeyn was buried Tuesday afternoon. The initial 
service was held at the parsonage, where the visiting clergymen and 
near friends of the family were gathered. The remains were lying in 
the rear parlor in a casket covered with black broadcloth. A silver 
plate on the lid bore the inscription : 

Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D. 

Died August 29th, 1885. 
Aged 57 years, 10 months, 7 days. 

At the head of the coffin was a floral pillow bearing the word 
" Father ; " at the foot a crown surmounted by a cross, from the Sunday 
school; and beside the coffin a broken column, the contributor of which 
was not named. The face of the dead pastor had a very natural appear- 
ance. At the church a beautiful floral pillow was received from the 
Third Reformed (German) church. 

Among the ministers who were at the parsonage were Rev. Drs. 
J. Romeyn Berry, W. J. R. Taylor, and Rev. F. N. Zabriskie, D. D., 
cousins of the deceased; Prof. Mabon of the Theological Seminary; 
Rev. Dr. Crispell of Spring Valley, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. Van Cleef of 
Jersey City; Rev. Dr. Gordon, and Rev. Dr. Easton, of New Bruns- 
wick; Dean Holly of Christ Church, Hackensack; Rev. Messrs. Gcebel, 
McCowan, Gutteridge, and Harrison of Hackensack ; Rev. Mr. Brooks 
of Areola; Rev. W. M. Johnston, formerly of Hackensack, and most of 
the members of the Classis of Bergen, whose names we could not learn. 



44 



The services at the house were simple but impressive, consisting 
of the singing of the hymn "Asleep in Jesus," (No. 78 of the church 
hymn book,) by a quartet composed of Misses Grettie Demarest and 
Lizzie Westervelt, R. L. Drummond and A. S. D. Demarest; following 
which was a prayer by Rev. Dr. Easton. After this the casket was 
closed and the solemn procession moved to the church, the officiating 
clergymen first, followed by members of the Classis and other clergy- 
men, and the immediate friends. The pall-bearers were Elders Garret 
Oldis, W. E. Skinner, W. S Harris; Deacons James Terhune, John E. 
Post, W. Brewster, and Messrs. C. P. Hull and C. H. Amerman. 

As they entered the church, Rev. Dr. Berry read sentences from 
the burial service and Organist Williams played a solemn requiem. The 
church was densely crowded in every space, the Sunday school occupy- 
ing seats on the east side and left of the east centre aisle. The clergy- 
men were seated to the right of the pulpit and the mourners in the front 
centre seats, the floral offerings being placed upon the casket and the 
communion table. The pulpit and tables and the front of the pulpit 
alcove were heavily draped with black cloth and crape, and similar 
emblems of mourning were arranged over the front door. 

Rev. F. N. Zabriskie, D. D., read from I Corinthians, 15th chapter, 
commencing at the 35th verse, after which Prof. Mabon spoke for thirty 
minutes, dwelling with fervent earnestness upon the faithful and free 
labor of deceased for so many years; the physical infirmities under 
which he struggled but which were discredited by some ; his many wise 
and excellent qualities, that enabled him to carry his church safely 
through the troublesome days following the war; his interest in the 
public welfare, and his great love for children; his firmness and inflexi- 
ble decision of character; his generosity, that prompted him to distrib- 
ute of his substance, but so quietly that the right hand knew not what 
the left hand did. " This church," said the speaker, " has had the best 
twenty years of his manhood. God will send you another minister, but 
the individuality of this man will be missed." He would be missed by 
the Church, by the poor, and by the many Church societies that have 
benefited by his efforts in their behalf. 

Rev. Dr. J. Romeyn Berry followed in an address, paying a just 
tribute to the sincere, earnest and fearless character of deceased, whose 
sympathy with the afflicted and forgiveness of the penitent were as 
warm and free as the sunlight. All his powers, all his feelings were 



45 



vitalized by his love for Christ. Though the victim of pain and weak- 
ness that would have stopped most men, he still pressed on, yet often 
saying, "Oh, I am so tired;" and in the early part of that last night 
he said to his wife, "Oh, how much you and I have suffered! " 

Rev. Dr. P. D. Van Cleefread Hymn No. 266, " Servant of God, 
well done," which was sung by the quartet and congregation. During 
the singing the sunlight streamed in through an open window and rested 
upon the beautiful white flowers, creating a startling contrast to the 
surrounding emblems of sorrow. 

The services closed with prayer by Rev. Dr. Taylor. The vast 
congregation then filed around the casket and gazed for the last time 
upon the face of the dead. As the casket was borne from the church 
the solemn notes of the organ were again heard, aud the people stood 
about the open grave with tear-dimmed eyes as the bearers approached 
with their precious burden. Here Rev. Mr. Van Buskirk read the 
burial service, the quartet sang " Peacefully Sleep," Rev. Dr. Gordon pro- 
nounced the benediction, and the remain? of Theodore Bayard Romeyn, 
the friend of humanity, the faithful servant of God, were at rest in the 
silent tomb beside his fathers. 




4 6 



To the above may be added the following beauti- 
ful and touching feature of the burial, viz. : A num- 

<_> ' 

ber of young girls, dressed in white, connected with 
the Sunday-school, and who had taken a prominent 
part in the recent anniversary exercises, so compli- 
mentary and pleasing to their pastor, stood at the 
head of the grave, and after the casket had been low- 
ered to its resting place, they covered it with white 
flowers, after which the following lines were sweetly 
sung : 

Peacefully lay him down to rest, 

Place the turf kindly on his breast ; 

Sweet is the slumber beneath the sod, 

While the pure soul is resting with God. 

Peacefully sleep, 
Peacefully sleep ; 
Sleep 'till that morning, 
Peacefully sleep. 

Quietly sleep, beloved one; 

Rest from thy toil — thy labor is done ; 
Rest 'till the trump from the opening skies, 

Bid thee from dust to glory arise. 

Peacefully sleep, 
Peacefully sleep; 
Sleep 'till that morning, 

Peacefully sleep.. 



47 



THE SHEPHERD'S REST. 



THEODORE BAYARD ROMEYN. 



Down from his earthly mountain-rest he came, 

To lead once more his waiting, longing sheep ; 
The upland breezes called the shepherd's name: 
He came again to keep. 

'Twas not to be. The Master Shepherd's voice 

Came ringing sweet-toned down the heights supernal 
"Now come, thou Faithful One! Come, and rejoice 
Thy rest shall be eternal!" 

No mortal hand .the course divine can stop: 

God's angels bear him up the lighted steep, 
And on Eternity's bright mountain-top 
The Shepherd falls asleep. 

— Belle Benton. 



4 8 



I 



IN MEMORIAM. 
— $ — 

In the early flush of dawn, 

Ere the crystal dew was gone, 
Ere the birds within their nests had begun to stir and sing, 

To His servant where he lay 

At the threshold of the day, 
Came an angel, bearing swiftly, a message from the King. 

" Come up higher," was the word, 

" To the presence of the Lord ! 
Leave the work thy hands have wrought, leave thy mantle to another; 

Enter on the eternal rest, 

Meet the Friend who loves thee best, 
Fear not, He who calleth thee, Saviour is, and Elder Brother." 

Calmly, peacefully, he smiled, 

Just as when a happy child, 
Hears the summons from his home, hastens joyful to obey: 

Clear before the steadfast eyes 

Rose the hills of Paradise, 
And he could not but be cheerful, going home at last to stay. 

Past the watching and the tears, 

Past the hurrying drift of years, 
Past the tumult and the strife, and the parting and the pain ; 

All the trouble left behind, • 

Henceforth only bliss to find ; — 
Surely death to one in Christ, is an everlasting gain. 



49 



So the last sleep left its trace 

Softly on the quiet face, 
And the peace of God was on it, as we passed to say farewell. 

Cross and crown were lying there, 

As we lifted psalm and prayer 
Unto Him who' called the dear one, for " He doeth all things well." 

Crept the shadow through the pane, 

Then the sunshine came again, 
And the shadow on the cross darkened all the clustered flowers, 

But the sunbeams touched the crown — 

He had laid the life-cross down; 
Palm and crown, and robes of white, his through heaven's immortal hours. 

— Mrs. M. E. Sangster. 



50 



ACTION OF THE 

FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, OF HACKENSACK, N.J. 



MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS. 



At a meeting of the Consistory of the First Reformed Church of 
Hackensack, N. J., held on Saturday, September 5th, 1885, the follow- 
ing resolutions were adopted: 

Whereas, The Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D., pastor of the 
First Reformed Church of Hackensack, N. J., died very suddenly at his 
late residence, on the morning of Saturday, August 29th, A. D., 1885, 
therefore, by the Consistory of the Church, thus called to mourn, 

Be it Resolved, That in the very sudden death of him who for 
more than twenty years has been the pastor of our church and the chair- 
man of our body, we hear the solemn warning of the Master, "Watch, 
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son 
of Man cometh." 

' And be it Resolved, That, although as children of our Heavenly 
Father, who has seen fit to call his servant home, we bow in humble 
submission to His will, yet we can never forget the active and earnest 
part our pastor took in the transaction of the business of this Consistory, 
his zeal for the welfare of this church, and the fervent prayers for it and 
for us which we have heard him present before the Throne of Grace. 

And be it Resolved, That, while we deeply feel the loss which 
we, as a Consistory, have sustained by the dispensation of Providence, 
knowing full well that never again can we take counsel with him who 
was our leader here, we cannot but remember that others grieve: the 
wife, who shared his work and his success among our people, his sorrows 



5i 



and his joys, his fears and his hopes, is a widow to-day; an affectionate 
son mourns a kind father, relatives and friends are stricken with sudden 
and deep sorrow, the children of our Sabbath-school have lost a friend 
who took the liveliest interest in their welfare, our congregation has been 
bereft of a pastor endeared to us by his ministrations in public and in 
private, the Church on the Green, which for two centuries has witnessed 
from Sabbath to Sabbath the assembling of God's people, is draped in 
mourning and sadly tells the worshipers there that they have lost yet 
another faithful and fearless preacher of the Word, the State has lost 
one of its best citizens, the Church has lost an able theologian, a learned 
Divine, an ambassador from God, a minister of Christ, and a prince in 
Israel has fallen. 

And be it Resolved, That, having been acquainted with Dr. 
Romeyn for many years, and having seen him in public and in private, 
in the councils of the church, in the pulpit, in the lecture-room, in the 
prayer-meeting, in the Sabbath-school, at the marriage supper, in the 
chamber of the sick, at the burial of the dead, at the administration of 
the sacraments of our church, at his own home, at our homes, and at 
the homes of others, in trouble and in sorrow, in peace and in joy, at 
work and at rest, we knew him well, and that now, having laid his body 
in the grave, we have an abiding faith that his spirit made perfect in 
holiness has passed from death to life, from earth to heaven. 

And be it Resolved, That in heartfelt sorrow we sympathize 
sincerely with the family so greatly bereaved, commending them to the 
goodness and mercy of Him who doeth all things well, who is the God 
of all consolation, who hath begotten us again to a lively hope, and who 
forsaketh not His saints. 

And be it Resolved, That these resolutions be entered on the 
minutes, and that to such entry each member of this consistory subscribe 
his name, and that an engrossed copy thereof, attested by the chairman 
and clerk, be presented to the family of our deceased pastor. 



William E. Skinner, 
Jas. Terhune, 




52 



RESOLUTIONS OF THE SABBATH-SCHOOL. 

v ^^>^>-~ » ^^^ ^ 

Whereas, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to remove by sudden 
death our beloved pastor, Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D., 

And whereas, We, the officers, teachers and scholars of the Sabbath- 
school of the First Reformed Church of Hackensack, N. J., over which 
his fidelity was so apparent, desire to place on record our appreciation 
of the moral worth and high christian character of our late pastor ; 

Therefore, be it Resolved, That, while we bow in humble sub- 
mission to the will of Almighty God in this afflictive dispensation of His 
Providence, yet, we cannot but feel that a void has been created in this 
Sabbath-school, which will long remain as an evidence of the strong 
affection existing between the pastor and the children and the youth of 
the flock. 

Resolved, That this Sabbath-school, in the death of Dr. Romeyn, 
loses one whose self-sacrificing faithfulness was so plainly seen, that every 
member thereof will ever hold his name in most affectionate remembrance, 
and cherish his memory as a loving pastor, a kind teacher, and a christian 
gentleman. 

Resolved, That as a pastor and a friend, our loss in the death of 
Dr. Romeyn is indeed a painful bereavement, and we shall ever remem- 
ber those twenty years of pastoral service, during which he unwaveringly 
held up the cross of Christ, earnestly urging all to repent, assuring them 
that unto the faithful would be awarded a crown of life. 

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the bereaved family 
in this irreparable loss, and humbly pray that God, with His overshadow- 
ing protection, may ever comfort and support. 

Resolved, That these Resolutions be entered upon the Minutes of 
the Sabbath-school Record, and a copy, suitably engrossed, be sent to 
the family of our late pastor. 

Milton Demarest, 

Superintendent. 



53 



ACTION OF THE 

IjEFOfED CHUp OF BLAWENBUfjG, N. J. 



The folloioing appeared in "The Unionist Gazette" 
Somerville, JV. J., September 10th, 1885. 



DR. ROMEYN'S CHURCH. 



The death of Rev. T. B. Romeyn, D. D , late of Hackensack, N. J., 
is felt as a personal sorrow by many persons of Blawenburg Church. As 
the pastor of that church from 1849 to 1865, he was successful and 
beloved, and his memory is tenderly cherished. On Sabbath last the 
pulpit was draped, and extended reference was made to his character and 
services by the present pastor. The following resolutions were adopted 
by the Consistory : 

Resolved, That we have heard with sincere sorrow of the sudden 
and unexpected departure from this life, of Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, 
D. D., who for fifteen years previous to his call to the church of Hacken- 
sack, in 1865, was the faithful and beloved pastor of this church. 

Resolved, That we make devout recognition of the Sovereign Head 
of the Church in this mystery of His Providence, whereby one is called 
away in the midst of his usefulness, and that we lay to our hearts the 
admonition so solemnly given. 

Resolved, That we place on record our profound and grateful 
recognition of the gifts and graces of Dr. Romeyn as a christian man and 
minister of Jesus Christ; of his zeal and faithfulness in every relation of 
the pastoral office; of his true manhood, as well as sympathy and tender- 



54 



ness in the discharge of every duty; of his eminent usefulness in this 
field during his service here : a service which causes his memory to be 
tenderly cherished, and has left an impress upon the life of the Church, 
which cannot but abide many years. 

Resolved, That we tender to the widow and family, so suddenly 
bereaved, our heartfelt sympathy and prayers, in their affliction; and 
that a copy of these Resolutions be sent to them, and that they be pub- 
lished in the county papers and Christian Intelligencer. 



55 



RESOLUTIONS OF THE CASSIS OF BERGEl^, 

Adopted September 14, 1885. 

The Committee appointed to draft a suitable resolution in regard 
to the death of the Reverend Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D., presented 
the following, which was accepted and adopted : 

God reigns ! This is our faith and our consolation — were it other- 
wise, we would fall into despair. 

At our last regular meeting, we recorded our sorrow for the loss of 
•our co-presbyter the Rev. Leopold Mohn, D. D. ; at the same time, we 
expressed our appreciation of his labors, and our happy belief that he 
had entered into rest, and the enjoyment of his reward. To-day we 
mourn that another distinguished co-laborer, the Rev. Theodore B. 
Romevn, D. D., Pastor of the First Reformed Church of Hackensack, 
has taken his departure. From these swift events, there comes a voice, 
saying, to each one of us: " Work while the day lasts;" "Be ye also 
ready ! " 

In the death of Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D., the Classis of 
Bergen loses one of its most conspicuous and useful members. For 
twenty years he has labored within its bounds. He was wise in counsel, 
strong in the faith, and intense in his love for the Master. He impressed 
his personality upon his fellow-members. His devotion, rising to enthu- 
siasm, in the Church of which he was Pastor, made him a successful 
leader in every Christian and Missionary enterprise. He was graciously 
permitted to gather much precious fruit, and to plant the seeds which 
will produce rich harvests in the future. Faithful in his own sphere of 
labor, his large nature compelled him to look abroad and to realize, 
that, " the field is the world." By teaching ancf example, he sustained 



56 

the interest of his people in the cause of Foreign Missions, so that they 
recognized the last commission of our Lord as addressed to themselves. 
A gentleman, honorable, and regardful of the claims of others, yet 
he never failed to speak in terms of righteous indignation against 
all that savored of meanness, pretension, cowardice, or hypocrisy. 
His heart was deep, and filled with the crystal waters of life. Our sin- 
cere sympathies are with his family, so sorely stricken, and his church,, 
so suddenly and sorely bereaved. May God fulfill, in their experience, 
His precious promises, and give to them the assurance, that those for 
whom Christ died are the people of His choice, and the sheep of His 
fold. 

J. Howard Suydam. 
P. V. Van Buskirk. 
Elder Thos. M. Ward. 

Committee. 



57 



MINUTE 

ADOPTED BY 

The Board of Foreign Missions. 

a/£ 

The following Minute in regard to the death of the Rev. T. B. 
Romeyn, D.D., was adopted by the Executive Committee of the Board 
of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church, September 16th, 1885 : 

The Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D., has been a member of this 
Board since 1872, when he was appointed by the General Synod. Ever 
faithful to and intelligently interested in the work of the Board and 
devoted to the Kingdom of Christ; spiritually minded, liberal, .and full 
of faith; ardent, yet wise in counsel, — these qualities, while they have 
greatly endeared him to his associates, have also served to strengthen 
and encourage them, especially in those times of darkness and discourage- 
ment through which they have so often passed together. 

To them his sudden departure, on the 29th of August last, comes 
as a shock and sore bereavement. They desire to place on record their 
abiding sense of his great worth and their own loss. 

We gratefully praise God for giving us so long the full benefit of 
his counsels and example, and even for the time and manner of his 
decease, which seems little less than a translation. To his bereaved 
family and the Church- to which he ministered so long and faithfully, we 
extend the assurance of our heartfelt Christian sympathy and our prayers 
in their behalf. 

A true copy. 

Henry N. Cobb, 

Corresponding Secretary. 



58 



Rev. T. B. ROMEYN. D.D. 



The Pastor's Association, on Monday last, adopted the following 
Minute : 

The call of God upon our brother, Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, 
recently and suddenly made, to leave the land of the dying for that of 
the living, is an event of great significance to those of his immediate 
associates in the Gospel ministry. Death, coming to him in the way it 
did, staggers us by the rudeness of a shock for which we had been pre- 
pared not at all. We knew him long, and knew him well. From the 
first to the last day of his ministry the earnestness of his purpose was 
expounded by the faithfulness of its execution in the Lord's work. Much 
has been said, and well said, in reference to his private and public life ; 
showing that, humanly speaking, no community can afford to lose such 
a man as he ; especially in times when faithfulness to the Gospel is espe- 
cially needed to counteract adverse influences from sources whence the 
contrary should come. But the Lord reigns, and to His holy will and 
infinite wisdom we bow without a murmur, and yet beseeching that He 
will give us other such standard-bearers, who shall encourage us by loyal 
service to the Master. Everyone can use the suggestive utterance of 
David in regard to this sad event : " I was dumb, I opened not my 
mouth, because Thou didst it." 

This affliction, nevertheless and naturally, extorts from our sense of 
bereavement expressions of regret as well as of sorrow because we shall 
see his face no more. It is a matter of thankfulness that while called to 
encounter death he was not called to endure protracted bodily suffering; 
and it may be a matter of great mercy that he was taken from evil 
to come, of which we have strong intimations in the aspect of things. 
Certainly to him it is a matter of joy ineffable, "to be with Christ, 
which is far better." 



59 



Our prayer is, that their great sorrow may be attended with the 
full realization of the Divine promises to his widow and her only son ; 
that this bereavement may be made to issue in abundant blessing to the 
church to which our departed brother ministered for a score of years, 
and that to each of us it may be an effective admonition to believe with 
all the energies of the new nature given us, and to work with all the 
promptness that should arise from the blessedness of the service in which 
we are engaged. Thank God, that the night is far spent, the day is at 
hand, and our salvation nearer than when we believed. Our Saviour 
said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." This is not only assurance 
for the immortality of the soul, but of her ineffable glory as well at 
that day when He shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be 
fashioned like unto His glorious body, and when we shall realize the 
meaning of the promise with our departed brother, " To him that over- 
cometh will I grant to sit with me in My throne, even as I also overcame 
and am set down with my Father on His throne." 

Resolved, That this paper be published in the Christian Intelligen- 
cer, that a copy be sent to the family, and that it be recorded on our 
Minutes. 

W. R. Gordon, 

Chairman. 



6o 



EDITORIAL IN^ THE CHRISTIAN ipLLIGEpij, 

Sept. 2, 1885. 



A MEMORIAL. 

Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, D. D., pastor of the First Church of 
Hackensack, N. J., was stricken with paralvsis at five o'clock on last 
Saturday morning, and in four hours was dead. As the fact passed from 
one to another on Saturday it proved a severe shock, and the occasion 
of profound sorrow. By the event the Church is deprived of the ser- 
vices of one of its most faithful, earnest and successful pastors. He 
loved the Church heartily and without reserve, and was devoted to the 
promotion of its interests. The Church at large loses one who declared 
the truth with superior clearness and power, and commended it by his 
life. 

Distrust of his own abilitv and a reluctance to even seem to seek 
notoriety — traits often accompanying superior character, ability and 
attainments — led him to decline invitations to perform services affording 
opportunities to win popular favor. He preferred his own pulpit and 
work among his own people. There he was at home, and there he was 
a fearless, faithful, fervid and often eloquent preacher, a generous and 
sympathetic pastor and friend, wise in the conduct of affairs, and an 
example of the graces and virtues he commended in his words. He was 
all this in a degree seldom attained. He was also one of the most candid 
of men. What he thought and believed he said, but without discourtesy, 
for he was every inch a gentleman of refined taste and generous feeling. 
He was by nature impulsive, but time and the responsibilities of a large 
pastoral charge and a constant growth in grace chastened this to what 



6i 



became unusual quickness in forming and declaring an opinion. Yet, as 
we think of him to-day, we recall with pleasure the flashes of opinion 
which often shot from his lips, on men, theories, policies, deeds. Among 
friends he trusted he was as outspoken as a child, and in his own house, 
and especially in his own study, was a delightful companion, bright, 
original, genial and full of food for thought. 

The readers of the Intelligencer who recall the paragraphs signed 
T. B. R., and the terse, luminous and often picturesque sentences they 
included, can readily imagine with what forcible, graphic and beautiful 
words he presented the truth from the pulpit. His words will live in 
the memories of his hearers. He uttered many memorable sentences. 

Above all excellences rises the fact that our dear friend was a genuine 
Christian. He leaves with us and with all who knew him the recollec- 
tion of a life of conscientious piety. For years Dr. Romeyn has been 
an example of godly living. The record of his days is singularly free 
from the infirmities which mar the beauty of many Christian lives. 

During the twenty years of his pastorate at Hackensack, the First 
Church has become one of the most useful in the denomination. Christ- 
ian activity and benevolence have been increased many fold, not only 
by the influence of the instructions and exhortations of the pastor, but by 
the power of his example. He has led the congregation, while he has 
been nobly sustained by it. 

Dr. Romeyn was in his 58th year. He was the son of James Romeyn, 
D. D., whose fame a few years ago was in all the churches, who was the 
son of the Rev. James Van Campen Romeyn, a trustee of Rutgers College 
and a notable minister ;' who was the son of the Rev. Thomas Romeyn, 
who studied under Goetschius and T. Frelinghuysen, sailed for Europe 
in April, 1852, and was licensed to preach by the Classis of Amsterdam, 
Holland, in September of the same year. He was born and educated in 
the Reformed Church, graduating from Rutgers College in 1846, and 
from the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick in 1849. Soon after 
leaving the Seminary he was installed at Blawenburg, N. J., where he 
remained until 1865, when he accepted a call from the First Church of 
Hackensack, of which his father and grandfather had been pastors. 

Dr. Romeyn has frequently contributed to these columns, and of 
his sermons there have been published an historical discourse delivered 
in 1870 upon the re-opening and re-dedication of the church in Hacken- 



sack after an enlargement of the building, and a centennial historical ser- 
mon delivered in 1872 upon the one hundredth anniversary of the organi- 
zation of the church, and a discourse delivered in 1876 on " The Adapta- 
tion of the Reformed Church in America to the American Character," 
included in the "Centennial Discourses." 



ENNIS BROTHERS, PRINTERS, 26 & 28 VESEY STREET. N. Y. 



it 



